Last night was rough.
I woke up in the middle of the night with a need to empty my bladder. As I made my way back from the toilet I suddenly started feeling dizzy and my eyes started blurring out.
It was not a nice feeling.
It seems that my blood sugar levels went too low.
I made my way to the kitchen and had a spoonful of honey and two small apples. After sitting down for a while it passed and this morning I’m feeling just fine.
This sort of thing can happen during the early stages of a water fast. The body changes from burning carbs (glucose) to burning waste material and fat for energy. It usually happens during days 2 and 4. After the body switches to burning completely fat (day 4 and onwards) you should have less problems with low blood sugar levels.
Anyway, this is one example of why you shouldn’t do water fasts unsupervised. It’s possible to lose consciousness if your blood sugar levels go too low.
So keep an eye on how you feel and in no case should you ignore symptoms of low blood sugar levels (dizziness, eyes blur and feeling weak) and think they’ll pass. Grab a bit of honey or something sweet that raises your blood sugar levels. Simple sugar dissolved in water also does the trick.
This is less of a problem with fasts where you eat something, though still possible in longer fasts (7 days and more).
Evening update
Feeling ok today. Not great, but not bad either.
On the negative side I have to say that I’ve been pestered by constant cravings. I just want to put something into my mouth all the time. It was not as bad today as it was yesterday, but it’s still there.
Very annoying. And it makes it difficult to remain positive. Physically this has been one of the easiest fasts, but mentally it has been a tough battle.
Let’s see what tomorrow bring.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
[…] Water fast: Day 3 […]